


Infinite Forest

by AriaBaerose



Category: The Old Guard (Comics), The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Early Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:00:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26078368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AriaBaerose/pseuds/AriaBaerose
Summary: Early interactions between Yusuf and Nicolo. They're in a frozen forest, but some feelings may start to bloom despite of the cold weather.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani & Nicky | Nicolo di Genova, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 14
Kudos: 86





	Infinite Forest

**Author's Note:**

> I saw a tumblr post about how beautiful Luca Marinelli smile was (completely agree) and how the character Nicky didn’t smile like that often. And that the first time Yusuf saw him smile, he nearly got a heart attack of how beautiful Nicolo looked. That inspired me to write this little fic. I tried to find the original post (believe me I tried super hard) but didn’t find it. If anyone know which one is, please send it to me to give the proper credit.
> 
> Also, is been years since I wrote anything and English is not my main language. So, I appreciate any feedback.

The cold weather was a problem for Yusuf, he wasn’t used to it. His hands were starting to feel a little numb, his breathing was slow and he could feel his lungs trying to process this new air. His body was so stiff, even though several layers of fabric were covering him. 

  
Yusuf took a look to the road, nothing to see but a cold, desolated forest in the northwest of Italy. That, if they were still on Italy. Yusuf had forgotten how long they had been riding; days, weeks, months…? It was easy to keep track to where they were at the beginning, with all the little towns and villages, they just needed to ask to the people the name of the place and the instructions of which road to take. Now, there wasn’t a single soul around. 

  
He took a quick look to his companion, Nicolo. It seemed like he wasn’t struggling with the weather like Yusuf was, but it was hard to know. Nicolo didn’t talked much. Even after they overcome the language barrier, it was only in very few occasions that Yusuf was able to get a full conversation out of him. 

  
Nicolo confessed to him, a few years back, that he used to be a priest on a small town in Italy. Since then, Yusuf always related his quietness and seriousness, to his formation as a man of the church. Yusuf respected that, but sometimes he wished he could get more of Nicolo, than just a few words and simple replies. Specially, when they were riding in the middle of a forest, and some conversation may give him more things to think about than the frozen road ahead. 

  
He took another glimpse to Nicolo. He was so serious, his eyes fixed in the road. Yusuf thought this was just as good moment as any other to start some conversation.

  
“Tell me,” he started, “is the village you came from as cold as this infinite forest?”

  
He talked with the little Italian he learned the last years. Maybe if he talked in Nicolo’s language, he could get him to speak more.   
Several minutes passed and Nicolo didn’t say anything. _Maybe he didn’t understood the question_ , Yusuf thought, _my Italian isn’t good._

  
“Sometimes.”, Nicolo replied so quietly that Yusuf almost didn’t heard him. “The winter is cold, but it isn’t like this… infinite forest.”

  
Yusuf gave him a little smile when he heard him using his own words. Nicolo looked at him for a few seconds, then fixed his eyes again to the road. 

  
“It is next to the sea... The town I come from.” Nicolo continued, surprising Yusuf. “In the winter the sea is cold, and you can’t go close or swim there without the risk of getting ill. But in the warmer times, it is beautiful to swim there. I used to do it all the time, when I was younger.”

  
Yusuf hadn’t heard him talking so much since they started the journey, specially not about his town or his story.   
“Well, that explain why you act like a fish when you’re in the water”. Yusuf answered with a little laugh. 

  
Nicolo replied with a smile so warm, that made Yusuf forgot about the cold for several seconds. Nicolo’s lips curved on his face, and Yusuf suddenly had the urge to put his hands there. Maybe the warm of his smile could remove the numbness of his fingers. 

  
Yusuf stopped the horse on his tracks, surprised and startled by his own thoughts. 

  
“Are you well?”, Nicolo asked. No longer displaying any glimpse of a smile. 

  
“I… yes. Just with a little doubt. Do you think that the women of our dreams are going to be where we are headed?” He asked, trying to distract Nicolo and mainly himself.

  
Nicolo and him, had been dreaming about the same two women for years. Without any idea of who they were, where they were and what they wanted. A few months back, Nicolo had a long dream about them, but that time it was different. Nicolo recognized some places and landscapes, they were identical to the drawings he saw about France in the old library of the church in his town. 

  
They both knew at the moment that the answer to the questions was to find those women. It was a risk, going all the way to France, the journey could take months and the women could be long gone by the time they arrived. But it was a need, in a way they felt the women were calling for them. 

  
“I can’t tell.” Nicolo replied. “I hope and pray that they are there. That perhaps we can get answers to what happened to us, that perhaps… they are the answers.”

  
“I hope and pray too”. Yusuf said quietly. 

  
“If they aren’t there…” Nicolo continued.

“Then, we stay and wait for the next dream. We have time.”

  
Yusuf nodded and waited a few seconds before answering. 

  
“Yes, we have time. We can learn new things there, the language, the fighting…” Yusuf started laughing and then he said: “After all… we can always start killing each other again, just to pass time.”

  
It was a small silly comment, in an attempt to get another warm smile from Nicolo; but when Yusuf looked at him, Nicolo was happily smiling and laughing. 

  
This time, it was Yusuf’s heart the one that stopped on his tracks. The weak lights of the sun reflected on Nicolo’s eyes and long hair while he continued smiling, and Yusuf though for a moment that this man was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen on his life. Yusuf stared at him until the smile vanished, and when it did, he felt the urgent desire of making it real again. 

  
For the rest of the road through the infinite forest, he kept the conversation going. Not because he needed something else to think about, but because he knew he wasn’t going to be able to live without that smile now. 


End file.
